ADL Statement on Facebook's First Enforcement Data

New York, NY, May 15, 2018 … The Anti-Defamation League released a statement today after Facebook for the first time published data detailing its enforcement of the platform’s community standards, including its standards on hate speech.

The following is a statement from Brittan Heller, director of ADL’s Center for Technology and Society:

We welcome this new level of transparency from Facebook. For us, it underscores the immense challenge we all have in trying to address hate speech online. While Facebook’s technology detected practically all spam and almost all graphic content, the same technology flagged just 38 percent of hate speech, leaving the majority to be addressed by reviewers on their staff. This is precisely why we are working on the Online Hate Index to tap the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and social science to understand hate speech online. Our goal is to help companies like Facebook better comprehend the extent of hateful content on their platforms by creating community-based definitions of hate speech.

ADL is the world’s leading anti-hate organization. Founded in 1913 in response to an escalating climate of anti-Semitism and bigotry, its timeless mission is to protect the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of hate with the same vigor and passion. A global leader in exposing extremism, delivering anti-bias education, and fighting hate online, ADL is the first call when acts of anti-Semitism occur. ADL’s ultimate goal is a world in which no group or individual suffers from bias, discrimination or hate.